thoughts on the trans* christian.
NOTE: THIS IS MEANT TO BE FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE, TO ANOTHER CHRISTIAN. I AM IN NO WAY PASSING JUDGEMENT ON ANYONE'S ACTIONS, ESPECIALLY THOSE OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH. PLEASE DON'T MAKE ANGRY COMMENTS <3 pleeease.
[from the viewpoint of "side b" of the gay christian debate. that homosexuality is innate, but that God does not permit homosexual relations. the homosexual christian is then called to celibacy or self-denial in a monagamous hetrosexual relationship.]
what is gender? what is sex? while sex is biological, gender is both a social and mental expression. is gender a construct of society? maybe. but more likely only some parts of gender expression are socially constructed. can boys like dolls and girls like trucks? of course. does it more often go the other way around? i'd say. the whole "boys -> trucks" and "girls -> dolls", well, that would be a social construct around an expression linked to something a little deeper. mentally girls tend to be more nurturing, compassionate, etc. [hence their tendency towards dolls and such.] it's a biological thing tied to motherhood. does this mean men can't be? of course not.. does this mean that women must be? i'll answer that with another question: do women ever murder their babies? these "mothering instincts" are more-so attributed as a womanly thing because a.) it's more of a defining trait in women and b.) socially reinforced [in young girls] and discouraged [in young boys] by society [parents, peers, media, etc].
so, what makes a man a man and a woman a woman? in the womb, not much. in fact, estimates place the number of children born with some sort of intersexuality at 1-0.018% [depending on the definition of intersexuality used.] it is at the eighth week of gestation that any sort of sex-ing happens, and a lot can go wrong.
well, you may say, let us just test their chromosomes. XX = female and XY = male, right?
err, not exactly. there are many things that can happen. One [of many!] examples would be Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS) is a form of AIS [just guess what that stands for] where the XY [male, right?] individual may have a vagina, but no internal lady parts. they may also have some underdeveloped man junk, but would you call this a man or a woman? a doctor would check the little box marked "F" and go eat her sandwich. because she is hungry and she is totally excited for the sandwich. but she's a doctor, so she wouldn't get to finish it, because she'd have to rush off somewhere else. God bless doctors!
okay, so then, shall we just trust that what the doctor called you at birth should be your sex and gender? maybe. maybe not.
now what about people who go to various lengths to change themselves from what the doctor and society has called them all their lives? these "Trans*" individuals may not necessarily be intersex, but something in their mind says "i am female" or "i am male" or "what the heck am i?!" even though their genetalia and chromosomes may be saying otherwise.
if we have established that homosexuality is a biological thing, and biological sex itself can be wibbly-wobbly and all over the place, then can we really toss out these ideas of gender dysphoria? and in society, what is really the harm in allowing a girl to be a boy or a boy to be a girl? but does that make them a girl or boy? if ambiguous genetalia can be "corrected" by a doctor at birth [which, by the way, is often performed for the "social benefit" of the individual rather than the medical well-being] then why can't unwanted genetalia be "corrected" for the mental well-being of the trans* individual? [i'm not saying surgery is the catch-all solution. people need to make sure there is not something else deep down causing this dysphoria. take care of yourselves, okay?]
[also, not saying that you need surgery to be trans*.]
but where does this place the trans* christian individual for relationships? are they now their gender of choosing? is it homosexual for a straight man to be with a transman or transwoman? does it matter if it is pre-op or post-op?
these are questions worth considering, however, i do not think it is in anyone's place to say. this is a complex issue, and i think it would be foolish for someone with no knowledge or experience to try to define it for you. if it applies to you, then i encourage you to wrestle with it and come to your own conclusion of what God is calling you towards.
[* now, you may be thinking this asterix is for all the times you've seen trans* in the article. it's not. the term is spelt with the asterix because trans* is a catch-all term encompassing all sorts of "genderqueer" terms. also, thank you, wikipedia, for the intersexuality facts.]
